Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Romans Capítulo 7

Romans 7:1. Know ye not, &c.— In the foregoing chapter, the Apostle shews the converted Christians the obligations that they were under to a life of holiness, and the advantages which they enjoyed for that purpose, now that they were taken into the kingdom of God. From this verse to chap. Rom 8:11 he addresses himself upon the same subject to both Jews and Gentiles, but particularly to the Jew. The Gentile had nothing to oppose to the Gospel: a man just emerged from the darkness and impurity of an idolatrous state, wanted no arguments to convince him of the necessity of a fartherdispensationforhisinstruction,justification,andsanctification;andasforwhat any of the philosophers had taught, he found all that, and indeed every moral truth which human reason can discover, transcribed and incorporatedinto the Gospel, with the addition of a surprising degree of light, utterly beyond the unassisted reach of human reason. But the Jewish Christian, either from his own prejudices, or the suggestions of his unbelieving countrymen, might be diverted from the due improvement of the Gospel. It might be suggested, "You cannot own the Gospel as a rule of life and sanctification, or put yourself under it, without renouncingthe law; which is in effect to renounce your allegiance to God, whose authority hath established it, and obliges you to adhere to it. Besides, you do not want the Gospel; the law is in all points holy, just, and true, and we acknowledge and esteem it as such:—What occasion have we for the Gospel?"—To confirm the unbelieving Jews against such suggestions, is the particular design of the Apostle in this chapter. The Jews rested in their law, as sufficient both for justification and sanctification.—Thatit was insufficient for justification, St.Paul has already shewn: that it is insufficient for sanctification, he proves in this place; and introduces his discourse by shewing that the Jew is now discharged from his obligations to the law, as peculiar to himself, and at liberty to come under another and much happier constitution, even that of the Gospel in Christ Jesus; chap, Romans 7:1-4. In the 5th verse he gives a general description of the state of a Jew in servitude to sin, considered as under mere law. In Rom 7:6 he gives a summary account of the state of a Christian or believing Jew, and the advantages that he enjoys under the Gospel. Upon the 5th verse he comments from Rom 7:7 to the end of the chapter; and upon Rom 7:6 in chap. Romans 8:1-11. I. Commenting upon Romans 7:5, he shews, First, that the law reached to all the branches and latent principles of sin; Romans 7:7.-Secondly, that it subjected the sinner to death (Romans 7:8-12.) without the benefit of pardon.—Thirdly, the reason why the Jew was put under it, Romans 7:13.—Fourthly, he proves that the law, considered as a rule of action, though it was spiritual, holy, just, and good in itself, and though the Jews owned and approved it as such, yet was insufficient for sanctification, or for freeing a man from the power of lust and sin; because the prevalency of sensual appetite does not wholly extinguish reason, or silence conscience; and therefore a man's reason and conscience might own and approve the law as good, just, and holy, and yet his passions might reign within him, and keep him in servitude to them, while the law supplied no power to deliver him from them; Romans 7:14-24. It is only the grace and favour of God in Christ, which supplies that power; Romans 7:25.—II. Commenting upon the 6th verse of chap. 7: the Apostle affirms, First, that under the Gospel, and by genuine faith in Jesus Christ, the Jew was whollydelivered from the condemnation of the law, chap. Romans 8:1.—Secondly, that the power of the Spirit of God to invigorate and renew our minds, and to free us from the dominion of sin, attends the Gospel dispensation; chap. Romans 8:2-4. But, thirdly, whereas it might, through mistake, be supposed, that this sanctifying principle, the Spirit of God, would work without any care or thought on their part; or whereas it might be objected, that notwithstanding this life-giving Spirit, many who professed the Gospel were wicked men; either to prevent this mistake, or to obviate this objection, the Apostle shews, that no constitution would save those from the power of sin, or from condemnation, who wilfullychoose to remain under its dominion.—According to the immutable nature of things, such must perish, as well under the Gospel, as under the law itself; chap. 8: Romans 7:4-11. The reader should carefully remember, that it is the state of a Jew in the flesh (Romans 7:5.) enslaved to sin by the force of sensual appetite, and yet sensible of hisunhappy condition, upon which the Apostle discourses, and by which he proves the insufficiency of mere law for sanctification in the chapter before us.

The law hath dominion, &c.— The law is to be understood as the nominative case to liveth. The law hath dominion over a man so long as it lives or subsists. So Amos 8:14. The manner [the idolatrous institutions] of Beersheba liveth. Antigone, in her noble speech to king Creon, comparing laws made at pleasure by men, with the eternal obligations of truth and right, says,

Not now, nor yesterday, but evermore, the laws Unwritten live, and none when published first can tell. SOPHOCL. ANTIG. .50: 465. When the laws are duly executed, they are said vigere, to be in a healthy flourishing state; when not executed, to sleep.—Thus Juvenal, Ubi nunc lex Julia?—Dormis. Where is now the Julian law?—Thou sleepest. The Apostle, Heb 8:13 describes the first covenant or constitution as labouring under the infirmities and decays of old age, and ready to vanish away, or die, as men do; James 4:0.

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Romans 7:2. For the woman, &c.— St. Paul goes on to explain his meaning by a familiar instance. He chooses to set the Jew in a more honourable light while under the law, than he does the Gentiles while under their heathen state. The Gentiles are compared to slaves, in a state of the lowest and vilest servitude; chap. Romans 6:16, &c.:—the Jews to a wife, in a state of subjection indeed, but far more honourable than that of a slave. See Doddridge.

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Romans 7:3. If—she be married to another man— If—she become the property of another; or become another man's. The Apostle here speaks in the general, not entering exactly into every excepted case which might be imagined. To infer therefore, contrary to our Lord's express decision elsewhere, that adultery is not a sufficient foundation for divorce, seems very unreasonable.

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Romans 7:4. Wherefore, my brethren— The original word Ωστε, rendered wherefore, is used in comparison for ut, sic,—as, so.—You are become dead to the law, means, "because the law is become dead to you;" an hypallage, like that of date classibus austros, "give the winds to the fleet." By this manner of expression, the prejudice of the Jew is favoured; who might have been disgusted, had the Apostle said, that the law, for which the Jew had so great a veneration, was dead; and yet the sense is the same, because the relation is dissolved, whichever of the parties be dead; as it is all one, whether the fleet be given to the winds, or the winds to the fleet. The Apostle adds, By the body of Christ—who is raised from the dead. The resurrection of the dead, which is the gift of God to the obedience of Christ, is a direct and full abolition of the law, which condemns the transgressor to death without hope of a revival: and Christ's resurrection, as an earnest of the general resurrection, confirmed the abolition of the damnatory sentence of the law, as it stood in the old original covenant with Adam, and in the law of Moses. St. Paul, in the last clause of this verse, alludes to the wife's bringing forth the fruits of the womb to her husband, which is one way of engaging his affections: see Genesis 30:20. The law was an impotent husband, the Gospel is fruitful. St. Paul visibly in these words refers to chap. Rom 6:10 where he says, that Christ, in that he liveth, liveth unto God: and therefore he mentions here his being raised from the dead, as a reason for their bringing forth fruits unto God; that is, living to the service of God;—obeying his will to the utmost of their power; which is the same with what is said chap. Romans 8:11. Mr. Locke observes, that one thing which made the Jews so tenacious of the law was, that they looked upon it as a reward or blessing from God; and as a disloyalty to him, their king, if they retained not the law that he had given them. St. Paul endeavours to correct this mistake by the instance of a woman marrying a second husband, the former being dead. It may beworth our notice, that St. Paul having all along, from the beginning of the chapter, and even in this very sentence, said ye; here on a sudden changes ye into we;—that we should bring forth;—probably to press the argument the stronger, by shewing himself to be in the same circumstances and concern with them; he being a Jew, as well as those to whom he spake. See Locke.

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Romans 7:5. For when we were in the flesh, &c.— The design of this chapter is, to convince the Jews how unfavourable the law, in its rigour, is to the recovery and sanctification of a sinner; as it affords neither hope of pardon, nor power to conquer sin. And in this verse St. Paul gives a general description of the state of a Jew in servitude to sin, while under the law, which state he comments upon from Rom 7:7 to the end of the chapter. The words rendered motions of sins, are literally passions of sins;— Παθηματα των αμαρτιων, that is, sinful passions or lusts; for in the Scripture Greek, the genitive case of the substantive is often put for the adjective. To bring forth fruit unto death, is opposed to bringing forth fruit unto God, the only author of life, Romans 7:4. And therefore, the fruit which the Gospel produces is living fruit; but the fruit of sin under the law, is, as we may say, still-born,—is fruit unto death. Members, in this clause, does not barely signify the fleshy parts of the body, in a restrained sense, but the animal faculties and powers; all in us that is employed as an instrument in those works of the flesh which are reckoned up, Gal 5:19-21 some of which do not require the members of our body, taken in a strict sense for the outward gross parts, but only the faculties of our minds, for their performance. See Locke, Pyle, and Vigerus.

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Romans 7:6. But now we are delivered, &c.— But now,—that is, under the Gospel. Now is frequently used in this sense;—which should be well observed, as it may prove a key to many texts. However, here, as the Apostle had given in the foregoing verse a summary account of the state of the sinner under the law, he gives us in this verse a summary description of the nature and design of the Gospel: and this he resumes and comments upon, chap. Romans 8:1-12. The Jews, who had not a living faith in the true Messiah, were held in obedience to the whole letter of the law, without regarding the spiritual meaning which pointed at Christ. This the Apostle calls here serving in the oldness of the letter; and this he tells them they should leave, as being freed from it by the death of Christ, who was the end of the law for the attaining of righteousness (chap. Romans 10:4.); that is, in the spiritual sense of it, which in 2Co 3:6 he calls spirit. That chapter and the present verse give light to one another. Serving in the newness of spirit, opposed as it is to the oldness of the letter, must signify, following the law so far as it is revised, and asit is explained in the Gospel for theattainingofevangelicalrighteousness.Butforthefartherelucidationofthismatter, it may be worth while to inquire, how far the law is abolished, and how far not? I. The law is abolished only in three respects. 1st, As it was a polity. God was the king of the Jewish nation, as much as any men are the kings and governors of other nations: and as the king of the Jewish nation, God delivered the law to them. By this means religion was incorporated into their civil government, and their polity was religious, and their religion political. But in this respect, the law to us Christians is quite abolished; religion under the Gospel, is set upon its original bottom; stands entirely independent of all civil government, and is quite exempt from the authority and jurisdiction of the civil magistrate. 2nd, The law is also abolished, as it was a dispensation of types and figures, wherein, under earthly emblems, external rites or ceremonies, the good things which were to come under the Gospel were shadowed and represented; the divine wisdom judging this in those times a proper means of instruction. But now this veil is done away, and we all with open face, as in a glass, beheld the glory of the Lord. 3rdly, The law, as it was the ministration of death, and subjected the transgressors of it to the curse, and to condemnation, without affording any hope or remedy, is also happily abolished. II. But on the other hand, the law of Moses is not abolished; first, as it contains the moral law; as such it must stand under every dispensation—the Gospel, as well as any other,—in its full force and extent; that is, requiring and obliging us, so far as our capacities reach, to perfect obedience: for God can never require imperfect obedience, or by his holy law allow us to be guilty of any one sin, how small soever: and ifthe law, as a rule of duty, were in any respect abolished, then we might in some respects transgress the law, and yet not be guilty of sin. The moral law is truth, everlasting and unchangeable, and therefore, as such, can never be abrogated. On the contrary, our Lord Jesus Christ has promulgated this law anew under the Gospel, and having added to its precepts the sanction of his own divine authority, and the powerful and attractive motives of the law of God, and of his own love to mankind, with the brightest hopes and prospects of eternal life, he has hereby enforced and secured the observance of it, infinitely beyond any thing that the wisest philosophers ever could find in the law of nature, and far beyond any thing plainly and expressly offered in the Mosaical constitution. See Ephesians 2:15. Secondly, Nor is the law, as it is the ministration of death, so abolished as never more to be in force. It is indeed so far abolished, through the mercy of the Lawgiver, that although a man does transgress, yet he is not at present irrecoverably subjected for his transgressions to final wrath and condemnation, though he may at present be so far involved in guilt, as to be nigh unto cursing (Hebrews 6:8.); but is allowed the favour of repentance and pardon; and if he continues sincerely obedient, is sure of eternal life, and shall never come into condemnation, or under the power of the law, for any of his past transgressions. This demonstrates that no man in this world is under law, the covenant of works, or the broken law of works, for if we were now at any time under the broken law of works, then should we be in a state of final and eternal damnation, without hope or remedy, because there now remains no more sacrifice for sins, Hebrews 10:26-29. See 2 Corinthians 6:2.Hebrews 2:3; Hebrews 2:3; Hebrews 12:25. 1 Corinthians 16:22.

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Romans 7:7. Is the law sin?— Unrighteousness?—as giving any allowance, or contributing any thing to sin. See Romans 7:12. The skill which St. Paul uses in dexterously avoiding, as much as possible, the giving offence to the Jews, is very visible in the word I, in this verse. In the beginning of the chapter, where he mentions their knowledge in the law, he says ye; in the 4th verse, he joins himself with them and says we; but here, and so on to the end of the chapter, where he represents the power of sin among the Jews, and the inability of their law to subdue it, he leaves them out, as it were, and speaks altogether in the first person; though it is plain, he means all those who were under the law. So chap. Rom 3:7 he uses the singular pronoun I, when he evidently means the whole body of the unbelieving Jews. We may also observe here another masterly stroke of honest art; namely, his demonstrating the insufficiency of the law, under colour of vindicating it. He knew the Jew would take fire at the least reflection upon the law, which he held in the highest veneration; and therefore he very naturally introduces him catching at that expression, Rom 7:5 the motions of sins, &c. "What!" says he, "do you vilify the law, by charging it with favouring sin?"—"By no means,"answers the Apostle. "I am very far from charging the law with favouring sin; the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and just, and good;" Romans 7:12. Thus he writes in vindication of the law, and yet at the same time sets forth its deficiency. See the note on the first verse of this chapter. We have another instance of the same ingenious turn of writing, chap. Romans 13:1-7. Some read the second clause of the verse, By no means, but I should not have known sin, had it not been for the law, &c.

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Romans 7:8. Sin, taking occasion, &c.— Taking advantage. This is the proper signification of the Greek word 'Αφορμη . Observe, that in this and the three following verses, the Apostle comments upon, or at least explains those words, 1 Corinthians 15:56. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; and those also of this Epistle, chap. Romans 5:13. Sin is not imputed when there is no law. Death, in a figurative way of speaking, is represented as armed with a dreadful sting; that sting is sin; but death would have no power to thrust that sting into the sinner's heart, were it not for the law of God condemning him to death: for did not the law, or constitution of the lawgiver, condemn him to death, he might, notwithstanding his sin, live for ever, because his sin might from time to time be passed over. Therefore the law is the force, bywhich the terrible sting is plunged into the sinner's vitals: for without the law, sin, the sting of death, is itself dead, and quite unable to slay the sinner. Hence it is that the Jew (Romans 7:9.) was alive without law once; χωρις νομου , when law was set aside; namely, before the giving of thelaw from mount Sinai; for before the giving of the law, or the Sinai covenant, he was for the space of 430 years under the Abrahamic covenant, or the covenant of grace by itself (Galatians 3:16-17.) without having the law subsisting at the same time: for from the time Adam sinned and broke the law, the law was not re-enacted till it was given by Moses, as appears from chap. Romans 5:13-14. The Jew was then alive, because he was not under the law subjecting him to death for every transgression; but when the commandment came, with the penalty of death annexed, sin revived, and the Jew died. Then the sting of death acquired life, and the Jew, upon the first transgression, was dead in law. Thus sin, the sting of death, received force or advantage to destroy by the commandment, (Romans 7:8; Romans 7:11.); and whereas sin works concupiscence in all men, and deceives all men, it wrought concupiscence in the Jew, and deceived him under this singular and extraordinary circumstance of having received a destructive power from the law, and so rendered him a dead man in law; which was not the case of the rest of mankind, who then were, as they had always been from the time of the promise (Genesis 3:15.), under the general covenant of grace, given first to Adam, and afterwards to Noah. The reader will observe, that the stress of the Apostle's affirmation lies in these words, having received force, because he adds, for without law sin is dead, which is manifestlygiving the reason of sin's receiving a destructive force by the commandment of the law. In me, is emphatical: "In me distinguished from other men who were not under the law." See Doddridge, and Dunlop's Sermons, vol. 2: p. 46.

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Romans 7:10. Ordained to life— Intended for life. The law, which was just, and such as it ought to be, in having the penalty of death annexed to every transgression of it, (Galatians 3:10.) came to produce death, by not being able to remove the depravity of human nature, and subdue carnal appetites, and keep men free from trespasses against it, the least whereof by the law brought death. See chap. Romans 8:3.Galatians 3:21; Galatians 3:21.

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Romans 7:11. For sin, taking occasion— "Sin, taking the opportunity of my being under the law, slew me." See the note on Romans 7:5. Instead of deceived me, Mr. Locke reads, inveigled me; and observes, that St. Paul here seems to allude to what Eve said in a like case, Genesis 3:13.; and he uses the word rendered deceived, in the same sense as she did; that is, drew me in.

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Romans 7:12. Wherefore the law is holy— In Rom 7:7 the Apostle laid down this position, "that the law was not sin." In Rom 7:8-11 he proves it, by shewing that the law was very strict in forbidding of sin, so far as to reach the very mind, and the internal acts of concupiscence; and that it was sin remaining under the law (which annexed death to every transgression) that brought death on the Israelites.—He here infers, that the law was not sinful, but righteous, just, and good; just such as by the eternal rule of right it ought to be.

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Romans 7:13. Was then that which is good, &c.— This is an exact translation of the text, according to the order of the words in the Greek. It may be thus paraphrased: Jew.—"And yet you say, we were made subject to death by the commandment.—Could that which is good be made deadly to us?" Apostle.—"No, take me right: it was not the commandment itself which slew us, but sin. It was sin which subjected us todeath, by the law justly threatening sin with death:—which law was given us, that sin might appear, might be set forth in its proper colours, when we saw it subjected us to death by a law perfectly holy, just, and good; that sin, by the commandment, or by the law might be represented, what it really is, an exceeding great and deadly evil." Hence it is manifest, that the Apostle here assigns the reason why the law was given to theJews, not only as a rule of action, but also with a penalty of death annexed. The reason was, not to destroy the Jew, but to discover the true demerit of sin, that it might appear to the sinner's conscience as an exceeding hateful and destructive evil. And indeed the law should answer the same end to us now: though we are not underit, yet we should thence learn the heinous nature of guilt, that we may dread iniquity, and be thankful to God for grace, and the benefit of pardon. Elsner reads the verse, Was then, &c.? No, by no means; but sin was; and so sin wrought death in me by that which is good; for that sin by the commandment would become exceeding sinful.

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Romans 7:14. But I am carnal— The Apostle is here demonstrating the insufficiency of the law, in opposition to the Gospel; but if by I he meant himself, or any other person whohad embraced the Gospel, then his argument would prove the insufficiency of the Gospel, as well as of the law. The verse may be paraphrased thus: "For we all are agreed that the law is spiritual, requiring actions pure and rational, and quite opposite to those which our carnal affections dictate. But I, the sinner, am carnal, under the dominion of sensual appetite and the habits of sin, and for that reason condemned by the law: the fault is not in the law, but in me the sinner, as appearshence;—that which I do, I allow not," &c. Sold under sin, implies a willing slavery, as Ahab had sold himself to work evil, 1Ki 21:20 and the Jews, Isaiah 50:1. Ye have sold yourselves to your iniquities: he does not mean that the sinner is forced to sin. Buying and selling are often used metaphorically in Scripture; where we are said to buy, when we diligently use the proper means to gain knowledge and good habits; and to sell, when we neglect and abandon ourselves to ignorance and vice. See Isaiah 55:1; Isaiah 55:3.Proverbs 23:23; Proverbs 23:23.Matthew 13:45-46; Matthew 13:45-46. Revelation 3:18. Deuteronomy 32:30.

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Romans 7:15. That which I do, I allow not, &c.— From Rom 7:7 to the present, the Apostle denotes the Jew in the flesh by a single I. Here he divides that I into two I's, or figurative persons, representing two different and opposite principles which were in him. The one I, or principle, assents to the law as good, and wills and chooses what the other does not practise, Romans 7:16. This principle, he expressly tells us, Rom 7:22 is the inward man,—the law of the mind, Romans 7:23.; the mind, Rom 7:25 or rational faculty: for he could find no other inward man, or law of the mind, but the rational faculty, in a person who was in the flesh, and sold under sin, or in servitude to sin. The other I, or principle, transgresses the law, Rom 7:23 and does those things which the former principle allows not. This principle he expressly tell us, Rom 7:18 isthe flesh, the law in the members, or sensual appetite, Romans 7:23.; and he concludes in the last verse, that these two principles were consistent with each other. Therefore it is evident that these two principles residingand counteracting each other in the same person, are reason, and lust, or sin that dwells in us; and it is easy to distinguish the two I's or principles in every part of this elegant description of iniquity; or the habits of lust domineering over the light in the soul which is only awakened to a sense of sin. For instance, Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells or reigns in me. The I he speaks of here is opposed to indwelling or governing sin, and therefore plainly denotes the principle of reason; the inward man, or law of the mind. These two different principles he calls, the one the flesh, the other the spirit, Gal 5:16-17 where he speaks of their contrariety in the same manner as he does here. And we may give a probable reason why the Apostle dwells so long upon the struggle and opposition between those two principles; it is most likely, to answer a tacit but very obvious objection. The Jew would allege, "But the law is holy and spiritual; and I assent to it as good, as a right rule of action, which ought to be observed: yea, I esteem it highly; I glory and rest in it, convinced of its truth and excellence: and is not this enough toconstitute the law a sufficient principle of sanctification?" The Apostle answers, "No; wickedness is consistent with a sense of truth. A man may assent to the best rule of action, and yet be under the dominion of lust and sin: from which nothingcandeliverhimeffectually,butaprinciple and power communicated from the Fountain of life."—A heathen poet gives us a description of the combat between reason and passion, similar to this of St. Paul's before us:

My reason this, my passion that persuades; I see the right, and I approve it too, Condemn the wrong, and yet the wrong pursue. HOR.

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Romans 7:17. Sin that dwelleth in me— That is, reigneth in me. So God is said to dwell among the Israelites, as their king and governor; Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:45.Numbers 35:34; Numbers 35:34. Dwell, here and Rom 7:20 has the same sense in the language of the Jew, as reign or have dominion over, in the language of the Gentile; chap. Romans 6:12-14.

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Romans 7:20. I would not— I, in the Greek, is very emphatical, and denotes the man in that part, which is chiefly to be countedhimself; and therefore with the like emphasis, Rom 7:15 it is called αυτος εγω, I myself; "I, the man, with all my full resolution of mind." The two words αυτος and εγω might have both of them been spared, if nothing more had been meant here than the nominative case to the verb δουλευω, serve. This verse seems no more than a repetition of Romans 7:17.: but it is a graceful and expressive repetition, andshews how near the affair lay to the heart of the person thus complaining; andin what sad and frequent successions the complaints were renewed. The beautiful passage in the 6th book of Xenophon's Cyropaedia, where Araspas complains of two souls contending within him, (a passage which it is verypossible St. Paul might have read,) contains an agreeable illustration of this portion of Scripture. See Locke, Doddridge, and Wetstein.

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Romans 7:23. Another law in my members— St. Paul having in the foregoing verse spoken of the law of God, he here speaks of natural inclination as of a law;—as of a law in the members, and a law of sin in the members; to shew that it is a principle of operation in men even under the law, as steady and constant in its direction and impulse to sin as the law of God should be to obedience, and failed not to prevail in the unregenerate soul. The Apostle here, as in the former chapter, uses the word members for the lower faculties and affections of the animal man, which are as it were the instruments of action. Plato uses the phrase 'Ο εντος αιθρωπος for the rational part of our nature. See Romans 7:22.

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Romans 7:24. Who shall deliver me? &c.— It has been thought by some, that in this phrase there is an allusion to a cruelty, which is said to have been practised by some tyrants, on miserable captives who fell into their hands; and whom they compelled to drag along with them, wherever they went, a dead carcase fastened to their bodies.

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